New messages about the possibility of moving the relations between Skopje and Sofia closer, after the Bulgarian veto on Macedonia’s start of EU negotiations. Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov said Tuesday that the two sides should prepare for negotiations based on reason, not emotion, because disagreements between the two countries should be overcome in the interest of future generations. The Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, on the other hand, agreed that it is very important what kind of history we are writing today and what we will leave to the young and future generations and expressed hope that a solution could be found by June.

Borisov had a brief meeting with Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani on Tuesday as they both waited for flights at Sofia airport, the first to Vienna and the second to Bern. He stressed that all disagreements between Bulgaria and the Republic of Macedonia should be overcome, because, as he pointed out, the next generations will not forgive us for missing this great opportunity.

Prime Minister Zaev at Tuesday’s press conference at the headquarters of the ruling party welcomed Borisov’s message and expressed satisfaction with this, as he said, act of friendship. He expressed confidence that Borisov would be one of the main actors in finding a solution between the two countries if elected Prime Minister of Bulgaria once again.

I believe that really, as Borisov said, what is important is the history we are writing today, what kind of history we are writing today and what we will leave to the young and future generations after us. That is important. Not that the past does not matter. It’s important, we respect it. Its is the basis of our existence. But it is also the basis of our future. We need to be focused on the future, Zaev said.

Zaev, who also paid Tuesday a visit to Luxembourg, where, among other things, lobbied for support for the official opening of EU negotiations and overcoming Bulgaria’s veto, earlier in an interview with the Luxembourg’s daily Wort mentioned that Bulgaria’s veto on the start of EU negotiations was ungrateful gesture, but that his government is committed to the country’s Europeanisation.

But I think we can still find a solution to the Bulgarian veto by June. This requires help from the rest of the EU, which also needs to prove that it respects the values of the EU and that historical disputes must not be an obstacle to the country’s future, he told Wort.

At the meeting with Osmani, Borisov stressed that Macedonia’s and Albania’s EU integration should not be slowed down and that is why it is necessary to overcome the disagreements between Sofia and Skopje.